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The history of one of Buffalo's earliest radio stations has its roots at sea. On April 1, 1921 the Governor, a passenger ship, sank to the bottom of the Pacific Ocean after collision with a freighter, the West Hartland. The passenger ship’s assigned radio call letters were WGR. Due to maritime superstition, the call sign was never reissued to another ship and reverted back to a pool of available call signs for new radio stations.

AttributesValues
rdf:type
rdfs:label
  • WGR
rdfs:comment
  • The history of one of Buffalo's earliest radio stations has its roots at sea. On April 1, 1921 the Governor, a passenger ship, sank to the bottom of the Pacific Ocean after collision with a freighter, the West Hartland. The passenger ship’s assigned radio call letters were WGR. Due to maritime superstition, the call sign was never reissued to another ship and reverted back to a pool of available call signs for new radio stations.
sameAs
dcterms:subject
foaf:homepage
dbkwik:americanfoo...iPageUsesTemplate
Power
  • 5(xsd:integer)
Name
  • WGR Sports Radio 550
Webcast
Sister stations
Airdate
  • 1922-05-22(xsd:date)
Frequency
  • 550.0
repeater
  • 98(xsd:double)
Class
  • B
callsign meaning
  • W George Rand
Format
Affiliations
Area
Branding
  • 550.0
City
Website
facility id
  • 56101(xsd:integer)
Owner
Slogan
  • Western New York's Sports Leader
abstract
  • The history of one of Buffalo's earliest radio stations has its roots at sea. On April 1, 1921 the Governor, a passenger ship, sank to the bottom of the Pacific Ocean after collision with a freighter, the West Hartland. The passenger ship’s assigned radio call letters were WGR. Due to maritime superstition, the call sign was never reissued to another ship and reverted back to a pool of available call signs for new radio stations. That same year, the Federal Telephone & Telegraph Company (FTTC), headquartered in a sprawling manufacturing complex in North Buffalo, began marketing its first, completely assembled radio sets. To fill a radio void in the city, and to stimulate sales of their new "high-tech" products, the FTTC applied for (and received) a commercial radio license from the Department of Commerce. The station was named "WGR" after George Rand (founder of Remington Rand), a key investor in the FTTC. On May 22, 1922, WGR's broadcast operations commenced, beginning more than 85 years of continuous service to Western New York and Southern Ontario. Published reports say that the first programs on WGR were: a clergyman’s lecture; a concert from Victor’s Furniture Store showroom; and a presentation on the advantages of a college education by Dr. Julian Park, from the University at Buffalo. WGR is the oldest radio station in Buffalo that is still in operation. During its days as a full service radio station, its roster of personalities included "Buffalo Bob" Smith, later famous for TV's Howdy Doody children's show, and popular national TV and nightclub comedian Foster Brooks. From 1964 until 1987, WGR was owned by Taft Broadcasting. The station's longtime music format combining Adult Top 40 hits and rock oldies and featured some of Buffalo's top radio personalities, talk hosts and news reporters including Stan Roberts, Larry Anderson, Frank Benny, Tom Donahue, Randy Michaels, Jim Scott, Jerry Reo, Shane, Joe Galuski, Tom Langmyer, George Hamberger, Tom Shannon, Tom Bauerle, John Otto, Chuck Lakefield, Sandy Kozel, Don Dussias, Lauri Githens, Wayne Smith, Jane Tomczak and Craig Matthews. WGR gradually evolved to news/talk during the late 1980s and early 1990s. In 1987, Taft sold the station to Rich Communications, which was part of the Robert Rich family's business holdings, which also included a major processed-food company and a venture applying for a National League expansion baseball franchise (for which WGR was projected to be flagship station of the team's projected network). Although the Rich interests were the National League's choice for the new franchise they dropped out of the competition for an expansion team (which ultimately went to south Florida) for cost reasons. Soon after, WGR was eventually spun off to new owners.
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